Gamble
by BeautifulMagic LoveAffair
Summary: KakaSaku In which lowered inhibitions for both Kakashi and Sakura may be a good thing for their lonely hearts. Written for the KakaSaku Month 2018 prompt 'Bets'. (Cover art is a piece by ZhaoLuna on Tumblr).


Kakashi, as Sakura had discovered one fateful, rainy night sometime after she had tuned 16 and joined her sensei for a celebratory drink, was a goofy drunk. Goofy to the extent that it enabled her and her team mates to exploit this man silly. For the past 18 months or so, Team 7 (namely Naruto and Sakura) had explored every angle possible about the extent to which Kakashi can go when intoxicated. The rest rarely did join (but not even the promise of getting Kakashi to finally pay some bills could fly over the head of the principled Yamato), Sai just seemed too confused most of the times to actively partake but on the days that Sakura and/or Naruto were sober, they'd have the indulgent heart to explain the humour behind their shenanigans to the boy.

Goofy isn't to say that Kakashi giggled uncontrollably or became loose-lipped about his ideas and thoughts but get the man tiddly enough, and he just might agree to all the bets, conditions and promises they pressed onto his ear. When Team 7 had first made this discovery, every occasion called for drinks – successful missions, failed missions, completed missions, completed-but-bad missions, completed-and-not-so-difficult-but-the-team-liked-to-pretend-were-extremely-tough missions… Really, the list went on.

(Sakura wondered idly that some liver-functioning tests for her old sensei might not be such a bad idea...)

When more time had passed, and Sakura spent more nights carrying her exuberant and drunk sensei home because "she lived in his district anyways" and "she had more muscles than the whole of Team 7 put together", Sakura grew more and more fond of the _giddy_ Copy Ninja. Never had she ever thought that the man whose name was in almost every and all Bingo Books in almost every and all countries, would need frequent breaks every five minutes or so because too much treading on his stumbly feet made this man foolishly nauseous. After the seventh or eighth time that she had to walk him home and they'd stopped for breaks to sit on nearby footpaths, Sakura had managed to work up the courage to ask him to rest his head on her lap, so she could run her cool fingers through his hair in hopes of soothing the pain on his aching head.

And when even more time had passed and Kakashi began to trust her abilities to minimise his headaches, he had managed to mumble something with the likes of "I bet you'd make a good wife one day."

The moment the words reached Sakura's ears was the moment her fingers halted against his hair and her heart fluttered uncomfortably loudly and she hoped to dear God that Kakashi was drunk enough to not have noticed her lose her calm. She quickly raked her busy head to try and formulate a witty response to his comment. Much to her frustration, a satisfying enough sentence was just not coming to mind. Complete silence was not an option though…

"And I bet you'd make a troublesome husband one day" she replied, squinting to the side as she analysed her sentence and came to the conclusion that yes, indeed that is something a gay Shikamaru might have uttered in alternate universe.

"Ah yes. My antics may cause some tension. That tension may cause some arguments. Arguments may lead to headaches. And your headache minimising techniques may come in handy…" Kakashi drawled on.

"Be careful Sensei, the way you're talking sounds like you're entertaining the idea," was Sakura's reply. She may be over-reacting, obviously – she herself was also kind of drunk – but Kakashi's words made it seem like, in another world, she'd be a wife and he'd be her husband.

And with that comment, Kakashi fell quiet and lifted his arm to touch the tip of her hairs that fell forward when she bowed her head to face him. Not a second later, he pulled his hand away and asked, "does it sound like such a bad idea?".

Dammit. If Kakashi was proposing to her this was not the way it was going to be – on the steps of Ino's flower shop, with both counterparts considerably smashed.

A moment of silence ensued, and Sakura belatedly realised that a drunk Kakashi was not only a goofy Kakashi but that a drunk Kakashi was a Kakashi that disappeared in the face of light and sobriety. Sure, he'd remember the promises and the bets but when sober, he'd always manage to seem annoyed and put-off by his drunken actions. More often than not, he'd also manage to make Sakura feel quite immature and guilty too. (She's sure he'd do the same with Naruto, but that kid was kind of clueless in picking up conversational cues). And it was with a heavy heart that Sakura decided to let this slide off her back. Holding Kakashi to his words and using them as a hint of what may lay in his dormant heart would only promise Sakura shame and pain for the future.

Heaving a sigh, Sakura shooed Kakashi off her lap. "I bet you can start walking again, come on now", she said and hoped he'd drop the matter and stop 'entertaining' the impossible idea.

Much to her frustration, he continued as he grabbed Sakura's elbow to stand himself up, "I bet we'd make a good pair. I wouldn't have to step inside a hospital ever again, you could just heal me at home."

To this Sakura scoffed, "I knew there had to be a very selfish and very Kakashi reason to your proposal". Kakashi, having successfully stood up on his own two feet, made a show of striding ahead of Sakura.

"Proposal?" Kakashi quipped over his shoulder, dramatically. "That was hardly a proposal. I may be all cool and mysterious Sakura-chan but even I know how to woo a girl time and again."

"Yes, but making a young and frail girl carry you home when you're drunk hardly seems like wooing."

"Careful now Sakura-chan. If I was sober I might have begun to think you _wanted_ me to woo you," he warned. He probably meant this as a joke, but Sakura decided that she didn't really like when drunk, warm and open Kakashi made vague flirtatious passes at her. The fact that he smelled so welcoming didn't really help matters either. _Couldn't he smell more like alcohol, dammit?_ she complained.

But Sakura was never quite good at holding her tongue when irked.

So, when her snappy and accusatory response of "I don't know, but even drunk, I could swear that it was you who started all of this in the first place?" came, Kakashi decided to stop in his footsteps.

Belatedly he realised she wasn't so fond of this topic. And his genius mind could only come to one conclusion about why his wittiest pupil let this particular topic of banter annoy her so early on in the making: maybe the longing stares he'd catch her giving him sometimes on tiring missions weren't so much the result of lethargy as they were of _longing_. Kakashi's subconscious had realised quite early on and it made him feel quite flattered even, but the day Sakura gave her heart to someone deserving was the day Naruto turned down Ramen.

It was dangerous for him to be drunk in her company. Inhibitions were good, and they helped preserve sanity and sought logic and when inhibitions were gone, it made Kakashi give in to the urge to be alone in Sakura's company when she was slightly drunk too. To his annoyance, however, she never got drunk enough. And his conscience would argue that that was for the best.

A deep part of him was quite unimpressed with himself for taking advantage of his drunkenness to sprout whatever nonsense came to his mind. But a deeper and darker part of himself was pleased and craved further attention from her.

Sakura stepped beside him and shot him a look of concern thinking that he might have stopped midstep because he was feeling nauseous again.

But really, Kakashi stopped because her accusation hadn't rung too far from the truth. So, when Sakura came forwards and her hand itched towards Kakashi's elbow to support him, he pulled away sharply and said, "I can take it from here. It's getting late, so you should just go home now. I'll see you tomorrow Sakura."

Sakura was too drunk to notice he was sobering up but not drunk enough to have ignored how hurt she felt by the simple action of him pulling away. He only had to move a certain way and it would make her ache in all the wrong ways.

"Don't you wanna make some bets today Kakashi?" she called from behind him when he resumed his treading homewards. "We always make bets, don't we? Isn't that out tradition?" Sakura could tell she was babbling but whenever he pulled away from her like this, it was usually followed by days of cold shoulders from Kakashi and Sakura had decided last time that next time, she wouldn't let the opportunity present itself.

"Do you really think it's wise to do this right now?" Kakashi just really needed to leave before the situation advanced.

"Yes! Why are you being like this? Not two seconds ago we were laughing about marriage quirks!" Sakura felt her volume rise and something at the back of her mind reminded her that at late and quiet hours like this, a lot of people could hear a lot of things.

"So, you realise that that was a joke?" Kakashi's tone sounded exasperated, making Sakura feel self-conscious and nervous. What did he mean by that? Was he being cruel again? She hoped she wouldn't end up saying something regrettable.

"I can handle jokes Kakashi… I don't think you can handle me though" too late, the words were out before her brain had even processed them.

Kakashi always strived with being one step ahead of everybody – an enemy, a friend, a comrade, his neighbours, their mothers and their cousins – it came as a perk of being a genius and whatnot. He hadn't quite figured out if that's what made him lazy or if it was his laziness that led to the development of that trait. Similarly, Kakashi liked his ability to see through Sakura without difficulty, but he disliked it immensely when she could do the same with him. (But isn't that why he fell for her in the first place?)

When he started to move his feet again, Sakura was in front of him faster than the eyes could follow. "I won't bug you after this," she promised "but please, a bet is all I'm asking for" she begged and Kakashi grimaced when he realised he liked that tone.

Taking a step back to regain some distance between them again, Kakashi sighed and replied, "maybe we should stop with these…" but seeing the panic rise in Sakura's face made him continue, "but one last bet sounds plausible" he finished.

Sakura released the breath she was holding with force and marvelled at the thought that it probably brushed past Kakashi's face when she saw him squint. It gave her hope and satisfaction when he went awry around her, made her believe that one day, slowly but surely, his resolve would break.

She was glad. This gave her an idea. She wanted to place a bet but hadn't really thought of anything but seeing his resolve weaken steadily inspired her endlessly (and she had to slow her excitable heart before it ran ahead of itself).

"I bet that you want me. I don't know how much, and I don't know if it's as much as I want you, but I bet that you do anyway. No, don't look away when I say that just please, hear me out" she galloped a gallon of air and continued, "I want to bet on your heart. If you truly don't want me, then you won't stop me in the two weeks that I am giving you where I will try my _utmost best_ to move on and see other guys. If you win and you don't hinder my dates or accept them and encourage them wholeheartedly then I lose, and I promise to never bring this up again."

Sakura didn't like making bold promises like that, her dislike having probably stemmed from her teammates' pesky obsession with the word. But Sakura was desperate and the premise of what might happen if she were to win was too tempting.

"But if you win?" Kakashi prompted.

"If I win and you lose, your heart is mine and you have to give it up without a second's thought. In the two weeks, you cannot initiate any interaction between the two of us that stems deeper than just that of teammates. No lingering stares, hands and _no_ extra effort in _avoiding_ me either, no nothing. You have to be normal and treat me like I am your friend – nothing more and nothing less." By now, her sobriety was coming back and despite how steady her words sounded, her chest heaved with uneven breaths.

She wasn't sure how Kakashi would respond and she held her breath. He could say the wrong thing and completely break her heart and she hadn't prepared for that yet. When she woke that morning, she hadn't anticipated that this is how her day was going to end.

But Sakura wasn't quite sure what the right thing sounded like either.

Not until he sighed and stuffed his hands in his pocket, "Bets are… juvenile, don't you think? Maybe our last one ever shouldn't bear such heavy consequences. Why don't we talk about this tomorrow when we're both not so tired and under the influence?"

 _Damn him. Damn him!_ A right thing would've sounded like anything that wasn't that. She could feel her own resolve waning, so she hurried and said, "No, Kakashi! Please don't brush this off" and instantly hated how weak that sounded. No wonder he thought this juvenile.

"All it will take you is two weeks and I promise if you win, you'll get exactly what you want. I will never bug you again. Doesn't that tempt you?" She hoped he'd say no to the temptation part because saying yes, even if as a lie, would be a harsh and unbearable rejection.

 _Not as tempting as your bottom lip and how it flips out when you talk that way_ — "If I agree, there is no turning back Sakura."

"Deal", she said in a way that made Kakashi think that if he was blind, her response would've sounded like she'd just leapt.

"Deal", he repeated. He performed some seals and said "I'll see you around Sakura" as he disappeared into thin air, leaving Sakura by herself in the middle of the street.

Sakura continued to speak, even if it was at herself, "Deal indeed. I may be Tsunade's but my luck with bets is nothing like hers".

Kakashi wouldn't be able to help himself. She knew it. He couldn't even help himself from making unnecessary physical contact with her – brushing his hand down her back in the faintest ways when he thought no one was looking, touching her hair at every opportunity, touching her fingers whenever they were close to his. She knew he couldn't win. And if he did, well she'd have to see about hunting down Sasuke and his rinnegan to get Kakashi under a genjutsu so that he could wake up with an epiphany of his undying love for her and realise that true love shouldn't be discarded in the face of pesky principles.

* * *

"I'm glad you've come to your senses. Your two weeks isn't up yet. You can leave still."

"Sakura, please don't lie to the weary-hearted like me. We both know you'd punch a hole through my face before I could even begin to contemplate that idea."

"Laugh all you want Kakashi, but I'm serious. This is for good yeah?"

"For good, yes."

"Good."

* * *

Thank you for reading.


End file.
